In The Rain
by SerenityMoonRose123
Summary: Byleth would do anything to protect Dimitri, but he can't accept that. In which our smol bean feels guilty when Byleth gets hurt. Two part story.


The rain was pounding down on the field, adding to the hellish image of the battle that was raging in the forest. Byleth cut down what seems like the hundredth swordsmen, her mint green eyes squinting against the downpour, searching for that familiar mop of golden hair. She was wounded, but she tried to pay the sting no mind—if she could go on, she would. The only thing Byleth was worried about was Dimitri. Although he had regained much of his former personality, there were still moments that he faltered, that he reverted to the demonic persona that had possessed him for nearly five years.

It had happened again tonight.

The ambush was well planned, and it had immediately put the party on the defensive. As Byleth tried to rally the army to launch a counterattack, she saw Dimitri charge into the fray, Areadbhar clenched tight in his grip. She knew instinctively that he had faltered and fallen back into the darkness. Byleth tasked Sylvain with rallying the rest of the troops and charged in after him, cutting down the foes that he failed to notice were creeping up on him.

This had gone on for hours. Byleth could feel exhaustion creeping into her limbs, the Sword of the Creator becoming increasingly heavy in her normally-ironclad grip. The screams of the injured and dying surrounded her, but the warrioress tuned them out, her eyes scanning desperately for the Prince. Her stomach dropped when she finally spotted him. He was mercilessly cutting down the soldiers in front of him while failing to notice the archer behind him, notching an arrow and aiming for his back.

Byleth's eyes widened, and the world slowed as she called upon the divine powers that Sothis left to her, pulling back time as far as she could. All she knew was that she must save him, she must buy him some time. The sting of her wounds became almost unbearable, but she continued on, her resolve never faltering.

Time restarts, and Byleth launched herself into a sprint through the forest, the rainwater almost blinding her. She mercilessly cut down anyone who crossed her path, desperate to reach Dimitri in time. She knew that she had bought herself a minute at best by using the Divine Pulse, but as she closed in on the feral prince, she realized it wouldn't be enough. There wouldn't be enough time to reach Dimitri and pull him down out of harms way, and there wasn't enough time to cut down the archer before he could shoot.

Byleth steeled her resolve—the former professor knew what she had to do. She ran as hard as she could, tossing aside the Sword of the Creator, her soaked hair sticking to the back of her neck. The roar of battle surrounded the swordswoman, destroying any possibility of him hearing a shouted warning. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the archer take aim at Dimitri, who is still woefully unaware of the danger.

Using her last spurt of energy, Byleth launched herself in between her former student and the arrow.

The world goes black.

Dimitri knew that something was wrong as soon as the rain had started. There was something unnatural about the way the clouds set upon the group as they travelled through the mountains. That was why he was infuriated when the Imperial army still managed to ambush them, and it wasn't long until he had gone full boar, butchering any soldier who had to misfortune of crossing his path. The sounds of smell of battle spurred him on, and he fell deeper into his madness, not even bothering to check around him, or even exercise normal caution. All the prince cared about was cutting down those in front of him, trying to inflict as much pain as he could upon his enemies. As he went deeper into the forest, the more warriors set upon him. However, despite the uneven odds, the monstrous strength granted to him through his Crest allowed him to easily match pace with the enemies.

A familiar scream cut through his battle-induced craze. His blue eyes widened, and his stomach dropped, fear clenching his whole being. _No, no, no!_ Dimitri thought, slicing down the last of the nearby soldiers, and searching around desperately for that distinctive head of mint hair.

His blood ran cold when he saw Byleth, an arrow protruding from her stomach. His eye spotted an archer a few feet away, his bow still drawn from when he shot the arrow. Dimitri launched himself forward, a feral snarl erupting from his lips, and skewered the shooter through the heart.

Without a second though he threw away his lance, and ran over to his beloved, although he would never call her that to her face. She was covered in wounds, but the most prominent was the arrow sticking from her stomach. Her already pale skin skin had gained a deathly pallor, and her breath was coming in shallow gasps. Even Dimitri could tell that Byleth was losing too much blood.

"Professor? Professor, you have to stay with me!" Dimitri cried out, his voice cracking. He tore at his cloak, using scraps to patch up the other wounds. He knew if he tried to pull out the arrow she could bleed out. She needed a healer.

"A-are you…ok?" Byleth managed to say, her voice impossibly soft. Blood formed at the corners of her mouth as she coughed. Dimitri looked down in horror. _Did she get injured like this protecting me_? Dimitri asked himself, self-hatred burning through his veins.

"Byleth have to stay awake, at least until I can get Byleth to Marianne or Mercedes," Dimitri said as he carefully began to pick up her limp form. Byleth cried out as she was moved, and the sound felt like a stab to Dimitri's heart. He began to move swiftly to the mouth of the forest, back towards where the army had set up camp. He would not let her die.

He couldn't.


End file.
